The Nightmare of Battle
by Ryu and Chibi
Summary: Hieioc and Kuramaoc REVIEW! Inukiba is a dog of war with allegiance to Mukuro, and Sieko is a freelancer bought out by Yomi. Traitors by association, and yet... Good things often come from bad.
1. Inukiba

Gin-ryu: Punnamechibi and I don't own YYH, but we both wish we did!

Ok, this chapter is mine. P-Chibi and I have this as our shared account and are going to do this and another story chappy by chappy. I have the first!

_**Inukiba**_

In a 5'x6' canvas tent she sat on a cot in the dark. Across from her she saw her reflection in the mirror above her "sink", which was merely a water pump.

Holding onto the long gash on her shoulder she wondered when Lord Mukuro would call her from the safety of her make shift home back to the thick of battle.

A soldier by heart, she didn't care much as she smiled her sad dogish smile at the mirror and stood as someone hit the flap of her tent.

At attention she sighed, dropping her shoulders as blood hit the dark earth that resided beneath her boots. Sitting down the medic took out a needle and thread.

"Bite somtheing." The cat demon Tsume said and Inukiba nodded, taking a strip of leather in her mouth and biting down as the first stitch was made.

Then another.

Then another until the medic clapped Inukiba on the back and left, leaving Inukiba to look at the uneven stitches of not-so-sterile-thread and smiled as she stood and pumped the crank for water once or twice. A jet of half-clean water ran out and she washed off her arm and hands quickly, then drying her arms off.

Punishment would come if General Jaganishi heard of her waste of well rationed water. She looked at herself in the broken mirror and smiled again, looking at the details of the reflection.

Everything from her chin length hack job of messy brown hair, to her stormy gray right eye and its forest green twin.

The long white scar running down her tanned face and branching off into two at the base of her nose. A souvenir from her warring past. The small cuts all over her didn't bother her as she stepped back and looked at the black uniform she wore.

Nothing special, ripped black pants and a shirt that had huge tear all along the stomach where a sword had grazed her skin. A black strip of leather served as a necklace and holder of her ID tags. A license to be a demon so to speak. Around her neck she wore a choker-like collar with a symbol of her allegiance to Mukuro as well. Actually, it was more of an akllliegance to her general, seeing as Mukuro was near death.

Her long daggers were sheathed on either side off her baggy, patched pants as somewhere outside a demon yelled a dieing cry.

"Inukiba! OUT!" Cam the yell from her Commander outside and she heard and explosion as she drew the knives and ran outside.

The battle was over before she got there as the Dragon of the Darkness Flame roared, killing the army of rebels one by one before stopping and roaring back over a bloody battle scene.

"General Jaganishi came back from Human world just as it started. We got lucky." Another war dog said as he scratched his head and they turned and went back to their tents.

But the reward came to Inukiba, who waited and spoke to someone hiding behind a tree. "Seiko? is that you?"

"How'd you know? I'm covered in ox blood." The tall freelancer spoke as she stepped away.

"Allegiance with Yomi huh? Run. Fast. Or I'll have to chase you." Inukiba told her best friend and Seiko nodded at the 4'5" girl and darted off into the trees.

It was late and, though it was against the rules of the rations, Inukiba sat cross-legged and pumped the crank for her water.

Washing off her yellow tinged wounds she jumped to attention when a voice spoke.

"Wasting water on wounds isn't permitted."

"General." Inukiba spoke as she stood up at attention, just as the red haired spy, Kurama, walked in holding an unconceiouse prisoner.

"Don't waste your breath Inkiba. You've got explaining to do. I didn't know letting the enemy escape was legal. A matter of fact, I'd call you a traitor." He breathed as Seiko moved a little against the bounds.

Unsure of what to say Inukiba remained silently looking up into the crimson eyes of her General.

She could smell it, she was in trouble. **BIG **trouble.

And the red gleam of her General's eyes told her so, her usuallly sleek black tail was covered in mud, and now was between her legs in defeat, eyes wide as she took a step back.

Seiko moved again and through a mental connection Inukiba willed her not to move...

She got lower to the ground, even more fearful as her general advanced, and then, after a second of battling against it, her feral instincts kicked in.

It's amazing what growing up in a pack of blood thirsty dogs will do to you.

She darted and lashed out with one long fingered sharp-clawed hand, and Hiei, suprised, was cut by it narrowly missing hsi face and lashing his chest with four long scratches. Inukiba cursed, they weren't deep enough to cause harm...

And now she really was a traitor.

"Shit."

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	2. Seiko

**Seiko**

Hiei was furious with Inukiba's actions and she ended up with a painful bruise on her face and one on her arm. Together, alone, they sat in a larger tent than the normal ones, but still cramped. Their bonds chained to a metal stake pounded into the ground. They were in a make-shift prison until they could get to a better one. It may seem like a pathetic way to punish a traitor, but, the water "sink" was just beside them but it was locked, only the guards could use it. This itself, was torture on the hot afternoons in a canvas tent.

The two sat opposite of each other, on either side of the tent. But they could still talk to each other through a mental connection the two shared when they decided to. Seiko sat closest to the the water tap, her short and spikey bubble-gum pink hair was now full with ox blood and dirt and looked faded and disgusting. Her bright green eyes were tired but she couldn't sleep inside the stiffling hot tent. Even if the water tap was useful, the water rations weren't permitting, especially to a freelance bearing Yomi's allegiance. But still, the two sat, quiet and too pre-occupied by the heat and thoughts of Inukiba's fatal fate at their full attention.

Inukiba looked accross to Seiko who was too busy playing with her boot buckle to notice anybody looking at her. The guards outside the little canvas flap were standing at attention and whispering sternly to each other. Their tone of seriousness didn't add any happiness to the already painful scene. All around them were guards with weapons and strict voices, stern expressions, and an angry all around attitude. But the guards offered some shade from the harsh heat now beaming down on them during the day. It was only making the fight more cruel to fight.

Outside the thuds of bodies falling off their cots in a fitful sleep grew more common, some may even be collasping on the floor from exhaustion. The occasional cry in the distance of agony, pain, suffering, and death grew very less occasional more rare as the dark night drew on. But it wasn't at all gone, never, was the death ever truly gone.

Hiei, sitting back in his tent, tended to the small gash accross his chest, cleaning it up with barely any water before bandaging it with the spare bandages he managed to procure. He did the best he could with the cut, wishing now, more than ever, he was back with his sister. Yukina would've healed it quickly for him, but now he was alone, with a pathetic army left after all his better soldiers started to disappear further into the fight.

"Do you think he's acctualy going to kill you, Inukiba?" Seiko spoke finally, in a somewhat quiet voice full of thought.

"Of course he is." Inukiba assured her in a dreadful tone, not wishing to be killed just yet.

"Maybe he won't...I mean...well..." Seiko couldn't think of a single loop hole and instead, turned her attention back to her boot buckle. Inukiba sighed and decided, since it was still dark and not nearly as hotas it was going to get, she would try sleeping again. Seiko did the same, with little success.

It was early morning when Hiei finally saw another being, Kurama. "Are you really going to kill her, Hiei?" Kurama spoke as Hiei rolled over in his cot and sat up, he hadn't sleep at all, but just lay there for the remainder of the night that he hadn't spent bandaging and rebandaging his chest in boredom.

"She betrayed the army and attacked her own General, she deserves a death penalty, just like everyone else. Save your breathe and stop trying to save her life, I'm not going to change my mind." Hiei growled at him as he got ready to leave the canvas tent.

"Then when are you going to perform the killing?" Kurama asked casually, as if talking about killing people was a normal subject, but it was getting to the point, that it was a becoming just a normal subject as lunch and dinner.

"Tonight, this evening, after I get back from the battlegrounds, where I suggest you go, quickly, Kurama." Hiei added, glaring up at him before exiting the tent by means of the flap they called a door.

Seiko awoke from her unsteady sleep and looked around curiously before her mind clicked back into normal speed and she remembered the prison tent. She moved her arm and sighed, the bonds on her wrists were starting to make the skin beneath abnormally sweaty and the metal was cutting into her skin, since the sweat made it a great deal softer to the touch. The stiffling heat of the afternoon had greated her and she turned to Inukiba and asked, "Did I really sleep into the afternoon?"

"I didn't wake you up because I thought you looked tired enough before." Inukiba answered, breathing in a deep sigh, as if hoping it'd cool her off to some extent.

It had been a while longer before they heard anything besides the two guards laughing with each other outisde. General Jaganishi was walking towards their tent and was speaking with the guards. Their voices turned back to a serious tone and they nodded, stepping aside and letting Hiei pass inside. He entered the hot tent and looked around before spotting what he was looking for, Inukiba. "I got off with killing people early, there wern't too many people around today. Perhaps they all respected the fact that someone was going to be slaughtered today, a prisoner"

"Are you ready to die, Inukiba?"

**Uhm...review and stuff. **


	3. Loaded Deck

_**A Loaded Deck**_

Her mismatched eyes watched the General as she spoke in nothing louder then a whisper.

"You don't scare me General Jaganishi. You or your army of beaten C class demons."

Inukiba's growl of a voice got only a little louder as she swung her legs underneath her, and since her arms had a few feet of movement despite the chains she sat up straight with he bent uncomfortably behind her.

Hiei drew his sword and put the tip under her chin, touching her throat a little more aggressively then he normally would have and drawing a little blood from her tan neck.

Seiko looked at her friend, knowing she was a little too headstrong, and then saw that something was hidden in Inukiba's hands behind her.

"What are you gonna do?" Seiko hissed too soft for the general to hear and Inukiba merely shook her head.

"I do however, have a last request...Let Seiko go."

"So her name is Seiko?" Hiei asked with a violent gleam in his eyes.

"Yes. A freelancer who's only in this for money, buy her out she won't tell Yomi anything." Inukiba's eyes looked pleading but the General's eyes stayed firm with a deadly gleam.

"No, your request is refused. Or did you forget traitors don't get last requests?"

Hiei drew his sword back to make to killing thrust just as, all at once, Yukina walked in, and Inukiba swung her legs out from under her powerfully, she slammed her legs into the water pump and knocked it clean away from its link to the main aquifer, leaving an opening to their one remaining water supply.

She was laying with her lips by it, a vile full of poison held in her powerful jaws so that, if she where to close them, she would poison herself as well as their only water.

"Brother, what-!" Yukina was cut off as she screamed at the sight of Megan's feral apearance and as Tsume, their last medic shoved her out of the way so he could say quickly to Hiei, "General! Yomi's men are attacking again I!-Inukiba!"

Tsume was stunned, she was threatening death to everyone, but now, she had also managed to knaw at one of her shackles enough to weaken the metal enough so she could break it. She was contained now by only one shackle.

Seiko knew now what Inukiba had been doing while she'd been asleep...She'd been knawing on the metal. To weaken it.

But now, with that free hand she wasn't threatening just their water supply, but Yukina's life. The koorimes throat held in her clawed hand so one contraction of muscle would end her life.

"So?" Seiko asked after a few moments of stunned silence with a victorious smile.

"Who'll it be? The girl, and your troops, or our freedom?"

Yukina started crying, gleaming tear gems sliding down her face in fear as Inukiba moved the bottle in her teeth...

Then Hiei smirked.

He'd suddenly remembered that, without her free hand, (which the guards had already informed him of before his arrival within the tent), she was helpless.

She couldn't defend the still shackled Seiko, from Hiei… or herself, What a shame it was that he was faster.

Inukiba's mouth felt dry, and as she contorted herself to keep a good grip on Yukina, her delicate ears picked up the fight going on outside before she cursed in a mental connection to Seiko.

"Damnit...I can't believe this..."

"What's wrong?"

"Someone just died-" the connection snapped As Hiei slammed his foot into Inukiba and stabbed downward quickly. She let out a yelp and held the poison in her now closed mouth as blood stained the ground. Hiei had rammed his sword through her black dog-ears and pinned her flat.

But even though she still had the vile shut in her jaws and couldn't poison the water, Yukina still had Inukiba's claws around her throat, and she snarled at Hiei as slowly they began to tighten, and Hiei saw the first drop of Yukina's blood appear.

Another lesson Inukiba remembered learning from her pack. Always play with a loaded deck when your playing with your life.

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	4. All Fair in War

**All Fair in War**

There was a moment's silence then a voice from the other end of the tent spoke softly, but firmly, "Inukiba, let her go." Her green eyes flicked dangerously at her, "You're only making it worse!"

Inukiba loosened her grip and dropped her claws from Yukina's throat and let her hand fall to her side. Hiei turned to face Seiko and smirked, "You just made it easier for me to kill her." Yukina ran behind Hiei and stood next to Seiko as Hiei took a step closer to Inukiba and grabbed his sword, pulling it quickly from her ear. Just as he was about to make a final blow and kill her, a solider ran inside, looking around stupidly before spotting Hiei, "General Jaganishi, sir! The war! It's bad, everyone's dying and we need you!"

"Damnit, can't it wait?" Hiei growled in anger a she stared at the franic looking soldier.

"No, sir! We're down to the final soldiers! Hurry, please, sir!" The soldier pointed even more anxiously and scared to the opening of the tent where the shadows of the two guards were standing, then, in a flash, one was slaughtered and blood splattered onto the tent, "See, sir?"

With a low and furious growl Hiei glanced at the two prisoners and his innocent sister and rushed out of the tent. Yukina stood, shaking next to Seiko before looking down at her and saying shakily, "T-Thank you." Seiko shook her head and listened to the men outside, screaming bloody murder.

"No thanks needed, it didn't do anything. We're still stuck here, right?" Seiko looked at her hands, chained and the metal beginning to cut deeper into her wrist. "And I deserve it, afterall, I'm the enemy."

Yukina stood quiet and soon enough, slid down to sit next to Seiko.

Outside, meanwhile, Hiei shouted as he killed three more men, blood all over his hands and his uper arm bleeding from a large gash across the skin. Still, he ignored the stinging pain and ripped off the banadages on his opposite arm, shouting, "Dragon of the Darkness Flame!" the rest of the men shrieked, trying desperately to run away, in the end, they died like the others.

He took a deep breathe and looked at the remains of dead bodies and blood. The smell filling his nostrils, making him cough. All over, his body was sore, the bruises on his legs turning a sickening purple and the gash tinged yellow. His head whirling with pain, blurring his senses. He ached to the very bone and becoming more and more exhausted.

"Brother!" Yukina burst from the prison tent now guarded by two dead bodies. "You look horrible, you have to lay down, please, go straight to your tent. I'll watch the two prisoners for you with Mr. Kurama's help!" Yukina gave him a look of pleading demand. Hiei nodded nad obeyed reluctantly and dragged himself to his tent, collasping onto the cot and breathing heavily, his eyelids suddenly becoming heavier and heavier to keep open until finally, he gave in and fell into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Once Yukina was sure Hiei was asleep, she crept back to the prisoner tent entrance, searching the guard for the shackles key until she found it in his pocket. With a smile she slipped into the tent and saw Inukiba and Seiko sitting quietly on opposite ends of the cramped make-shift prison.

"I have the key, to the shackles." She held it up to show them before working on Seiko's shackles until finally they both fell into the sand and she saw the infected skin. "Here, let me help." Yukina's soft voice said as she set a delicate hand on the wounds and they healed over almost instantlty.

In a matter of moments Inukiba, Seiko, and Yukina were stepping from the tent slowly, looking around, getting more and more nervous and anxious.

"What are we supposed to do now?"

**Shut up, so what, its short, bite me. Review or die! **

**Disclaimer: still don't own Yu Yu Hakusho**


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